


Testing Peter Wiggin

by OrionCohen



Category: Ender Series - Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21527989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionCohen/pseuds/OrionCohen
Summary: A four year old Peter Wiggin is tested for Battle School, he isn't happy with the results.
Relationships: Ender Wiggin & Peter Wiggin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Testing Peter Wiggin

“What’s your name?”  
“Peter”  
“Your full name, please”  
“Peter Wiggin”. Peter was sure to speak in his grown-up voice, a voice that was clear and confident, like the way Father spoke.  
“How old are you, Peter?”  
“Four years old”  
“And do you know why you’re here today?”  
“Yes, ma’am. I’m being tested for Battle School” Peter tried to let a little bit of excitement into his voice because he knew they were looking for ambitious kids, kids who wanted to be at Battle School; but he didn’t let himself sound too excited for fear of coming off as childish.  
“You’ve already taken a lot of tests to see if Battle School is the right place for you, haven’t you?” Peter nodded “I’m sure you’re getting just sick of all the tests and of that monitor in your neck”.  
“It’s okay, I like tests and I don't mind the monitor, it reminds me that I'm special”  
The testing lady smiled at him “You certainly are special. Do you want to go to Battle School?”  
“Yes, I do” said Peter.  
“Why do you want to go?”  
“I’d fit in there, I’d be with other kids that are smart, like me. I’d have teachers that have been trained to teach smart kids and they’d be teaching material that’s more interesting than what I would learn in a normal school. And because I want to be an important grown up, and Battle School helps children get important jobs as adults”. Peter was pretty sure this was a good answer, and the testing lady smiled at him, so he was probably right.  
“Wouldn’t you miss your parents and your sister if you went up into space?” asked the testing lady. That caused Peter to feel panicked. He had learned by watching grown ups that normal people get lonely very fast. He saw other children cry for their mommies and daddies when they got dropped off at the testing center. They do foolish things to fight this loneliness, like play with bad friends or marry stupid people. Peter knew he was different in this way, he didn't get lonely. To Peter, people were very useful, they could get him things he wanted to have and teach him things he wanted to know. But they were also replaceable. And replacing his future Kindergarten teacher with Battle School teachers would be an upgrade. He wasn’t sure how he felt about replacing Mother and Father with the grownups who would take care of him in Battle School, but it was a trade he had to be willing to make, he knew Battle School was important enough. He had always thought that it was because he was smarter than other kids that he didn’t get lonely, but this question had him worried. Did smart kids cry for their mommies and daddies, as well? Peter had assumed that was only the idiots.  
After thinking for a moment, Peter answered “I love my family, they take very good care of me and Valentine is my friend. But if I can help fight the formics, then I need to go to Battle School. For all of humanity, including my parents and Valentine”. He was lying about Valentine being his friend. Valentine was stupid and annoyed him. His parents explained that she was actually very bright for a toddler, but she didn’t seem very bright to Peter. She was easy to control, which Peter liked, but she wasn’t smart like he was.  
This seemed to be a good answer, though, because the testing lady gave her biggest smile yet and said “You’re an extraordinary boy, Peter. And this is going to be the last test, I promise”.  
The test was nothing like any of the other ones Peter had taken. The first round of testing had all been academic tests. He had solved math puzzles and analyzed physics problems on those. The next round of tests had been about strategy. Some of those tests were written questions about how he would respond to certain battle situations, but some were like video games, he got to control ships and direct them all around a battlefield, those tests had been Peter’s favorite and the ones he did best at. Finally there had been some physical tests. He had been timed as he ran around a track, he was asked to do as many pushups and pullups as he could and he had to hold a plank for as long as possible.  
This test, however, was completely different. At times it didn’t feel like a test at all, but more of a conversation. The questions seemed to have nothing to do with being smart.  
“Let’s pretend one of your friends from school is being bullied by some older children, how would you help this friend?”  
“If you were leading an army and one of your soldiers disobeyed a direct order from you, how would you respond”  
“If you saw your mother or father crying, what would you do?”.  
Peter answered them as best he could. Most of his answers were lies, for instance he had no friends at school, but he knew he couldn’t say this. Then, the questions started getting even stranger.  
“Do you ever think about hurting people?”  
“When somebody doesn’t do what you want them to, how does it make you feel?”  
“Do you think you are smarter than other children?”  
When the test was over, the testing lady took Peter by the hand, and walked him out of the testing room and into the waiting room, where Mother was doing a poor job of concealing her nervousness. She congratulated Mother on raising such a bright son then kneeled down so she and Peter were eye to eye, she said it was lovely meeting him. On the drive home Mother must have sensed he was upset. After the academic and strategy tests, Peter had been sure he’d done exceptional; after the physical test Peter was sure he had done at least above average. But he didn’t know how he’d done on this strange test, he wasn’t sure what answers they wanted from him or how it was being evaluated.  
It was less than a week later that Mother and Father sat Peter down to talk. They spoke in kind and gentle voices, they told him he was brilliant and had nothing to be ashamed of, they reminded him of their unconditional love, and then they told him the news. Tomorrow they'd be going to a doctor to remove Peter's monitor, he was no longer being considered for Battle School. Come fall, he would be starting his education at a normal Kindergarten.  
Peter was still trying to process this, still trying to understand how Battle School could possibly reject him, when Mother and Father told him the other news. Peter was being rejected, but he had been a promising enough candidate that the I.F. were giving Mother and Father a special waiver to the 2 child rule. They were having a Third.  
“Peter, sweetheart, please say something” said Mother, looking at him with worried eyes. Peter’s mind was racing, there were a hundred things he wanted to say, but he said nothing.  
“We know this isn’t what you wanted, but I actually think things are better this way” said Father, Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  
Peter wanted to scream “I don’t want a little sibling who is better!” He could feel his body shaking with anger, he was about to explode. He jumped down from the couch Mother and Father had sat him on and ran to his room.  
He let himself scream and throw the snow globes that had sat on his windowsill against the wall. He knew Mother and Father could hear his fit but he didn’t care.  
When finally he had tired himself out he lied down on his bed and just cried. He made a promise to himself, that he wasn’t going to be bested by the Third. He didn’t need Battle School, he could get power in other ways. A military leader was not the only career he could excel at. He promised himself, lying right there in his bed as he sobbed, that he would prove to the I.F. they were making a mistake, he was the Wiggin child they would end up wanting.  
Even without Battle School, Peter promised himself, the world would be his.


End file.
